[Tasting] Sichuan Alley 川巷 @ 51 Telok Ayer

If you're around the vicinity, and has cravings for some noodles or, a cocktail or two with small plates, Sichuan Alley may have just the thing that you're looking for. Fuss free and straight forward. Let's have a look at their menu. This was an invited tasting.

Sichuan Alley

If you're thinking that the location looks familiar, you're right. This was formerly occupied by Basdban.

Sichuan Alley caters for a variety of diners. There's plenty of small plates between $5 to $14 to enjoy along the oriental cocktails. Or come for their daily Happy Hour between 2pm to 9pm, and enjoy a pint of beer (selected) for only $8++.

For noodles lovers, we tried a few and it was tasty, plus generous portion!

food and beverages menu

food menu

I was curious about their cocktails which had very Oriental sounding names, like Bamboo Breeze? Hehe, it turned out to be a cute looking panda soaking in a bamboo container. Cute.

Bamboo Breeze (bamboo green tea gin, pineapple, peach, jasmine) @$16++

Bamboo Breeze was light and refreshing. Tasted predominantly of green tea and jasmine. I think this might be the Oriental version of 'Long Island Tea'? The panda, is made of chocolate but it was a tad too hard for my teeth. Only managed to bite off a bit of the ear.

Mister Kiwi (vodka base) @$18++

Chengdu Fizz (gin, kumquat, chia seed, sparkling water)

Had mistaken Mister Kiwi and Chengdu Fizz to be mocktails as it was sweet and seemingly looked like a cooler/thirst quenchers. But, we checked with the bar, and indeed, it has alcohol! So, probably not a good idea to gulp it down too fast.

With drinks on hand, let's have some food. Small plates first.

"Zhangfei" Beef Slice @$11++

Mala Black Fungus @$5.50++

The beef was smoked and thinly sliced. Tasted natural and light flavours of the meat. The spices added a touch of flavours but non-spicy. The black fungus dish hits the spot with a punch of flavours. Garlicky, crunchy and spicy. Am biased towards black fungus. One of my favourite.

My first time having smoked liver and I can say, am not a fan. There's nothing funky about it though, but the texture was something that I didn't find it appealing. 

Smoked Pork Liver @$7.50++

egg yolk in the center

Been wanting to try the fried intestines and finally managed to have it here. It was nicely deep fried, and the addition of leek is a good idea as the leek provided some natural sweetness to the dish. Doesn't feel greasy but has a good mouthfeel. Lovely with alcohol. Will order again.

Fried Pig Intestines @$7.50++

Eat, drink (responsibly) and be merry!

Ume Plum Wine @$18++

cheers!

Ume plum wine was deceptively easy to drink as well. Like a dessert wine. 

And when you have more drinks, then there's got to be more food. Bite sized dumplings that's familiar in taste with ample meaty flavours. The sauce looked fiery but actually, pretty mild. Not to worry if you're not too good with spices. This one is only at level 0.5 in terms of heat. Yes, looks can be deceptive. The mala fungus was probably more spicy than these two.

Crispy Pork Dumplings @$6++

Hot & Sour Pork Dumplings @$6++

Braised Ox Tongue @$11++

Other unique finds would be the Braised Ox Tongue. On-point texture and pretty tasty with all the sauce and condiments. Thank you Chef Eugene for the never ending line of food on our table!

Braised Beef with Bamboo Shoots @$9++

Braised Beef with Bamboo Shoots managed to win me over with the superbly tender beef. There's some smokiness in the bamboo shoots. Will order this again.

Lalalala Fried Chicken @$22

The Lalalala Fried Chicken is still available and still as tasty as the previous time. Portion size and the price has been reduced slightly. No, we didn't have it with rice this time round to save some tummy space for the noodles.

Let's slurp up some noodles at this point in time. Noodles are main course portion sized.

President Noodle (Red) @$24.50++

President Noodles would be what I deemed as "all-in" version. It has a big bowl of noodles soup, fried egg, some shanghai greens and side dishes of braised beef cheeks, intestines, crispy chickpeas and pork ribs.

At first, I thought the side dishes of the meats looked a tad dry but it was tender and easy to chew. Good. Was this spicy? Actually, not quite.

If you prefer the earthy mushroom-my flavours, then go for the Mushrooms with Chicken Broth Noodles. Wholesome flavours for a cooler evening.

Mushrooms with Chicken Broth Noodles @$11.50++

While I was wowed by the variety of sides that came along with President Noodle, the best tasting noodles for me that night, was the Fresh Chilies Minced Beef Noodles.

Fresh Chilies Minced Beef Noodles @$13.50++

give it a good mix

enjoy!

For me, this has the strongest and tastiest flavour profile of all the noodles that I've tasted that night. Thoroughly enjoyed this noodle dish.

No.3 Lady @$18++

No.3 Dry Gin, Lychee Liquer, White Wine, Pink Grapefruit, Rose

Tried a bit of the Black Plum Iced Tea (non-alcoholic) and it was good as a thirst quencher plus, it helps to cut through the fullness of all the food we inhaled. And, it's a sweet drink. Not sure why but initially it didn't occur to me that this drink will be sweet so I was surprised when I first drunk it. Haha!

Black Plum Ice Tea @$8++

Mini Hotpot @$14++

One thing about the noodles, is that it absorbs the soup pretty good so after a bout of drinking, usually I'd like to have some warm soup. The Mini Hotpot is perfect for this. Spicy 'malatang' with tiger prawns, tofu, homemade liang fen and mushrooms. Careful as the pot will continue to bubble for a little while after it was served. The warmth in the tummy was comforting.

It's a vibe here at Sichuan Alley and No. 51 Telok Ayer has a chic, vibrant nightlife feel, while next door at 51A Telok Ayer has a more casual feel to it. Both spaces share the same menu.

Thank you Kris for the invite, and special thanks to Chef Eugene and Sichuan Alley for hosting the dinner.

Sichuan Alley 川巷

Address: 51 Telok Ayer St, #01-01, Singapore 048441

Website: https://www.facebook.com/sichuanalley

Contact: 9755 1058

Business Hours: 

Mon-Fri: 10:30 am–10 pm

Sat-Sun: 10:30 am–9 pm

正宗阿源面薄 – Original Guan's Mee Pok @ Capitol Singapore

It was late in the evening and we wanted to have a nice dinner, preferably something hot. As with any other Saturdays, restaurants are super busy during dinner time. Guan's Mee Pok at Capitol has indoor and 'outdoor' seats with the 'outdoor' version means the tables are located outside of the shop. Hmm, indoor seats please~

Order from the cashier and collect it when it is ready. Self-service style. Kris said she wanted the signature bowl but when I went to the counter to order, the lady informed me that there are two signatures. Hmm, so I bought both since not sure which one Kris wanted. Added a bowl of cuttlefish balls soup, for the vegetables.

dinner for two

Sesame Crispy Prawn Paste Mee Pok @$11

Guan's Mee Pok @$6.80

al-dente noodles

Took the default seasoning for the noodles which is with chili and it turned out to be quite spicy! The spice level is about 2 out of 5 for me. I think this outlet puts in more oil than the previous one that I had some years ago.

cuttlefish balls in boiled watercress soup @$6

Wash it down with a hearty bowl of watercress soup. The cuttlefish balls were rather normal but overall, just good to have alongside the noodles. 

But, it sure fill us up pretty fast. So full after having the noodles and the soup. The noodles actually looked small, but enough for someone who is not a big eater.

Saw many who ordered the herbal chicken, so probably that's a good option if you're dining with your family and wanted something different other than those normally served at a noodles shop.

For me, the draw of Guan's Mee Pok is the texture of the noodles, the adequate ingredients in the original bowl and its hanjuku egg,

 正宗阿源面薄 – Original Guan's Mee Pok 

Address:  13 Stamford Rd, B1-55 Capitol Piazza, Singapore 178905

Website: https://guanmeepok.com/

Business Hours:

Daily  9:30am–9pm

[Taipei] 独立牛肉面 Du Li Beef

In 2019, I was determined to try at least one meal of beef noodles, which Taipei is famed for. Wanted somewhere that's not too far off from the hotel, and I was staying at 璞漣商旅西門館 Hotel Puri Ximen Branch. According to Google Map, it takes only about 7 minutes from the hotel to the beef noodles shop. Great! If Google estimated 7 minutes, that's probably 15 minutes for me. My sense of direction is not that great... hahahaa, but eventually found it. Across the street, there was a dumpling shop and I was tempted...

shop front

But I didn't waiver because beef noodles was what I came for, and I shall be eating that!

The interior of the shop feels like a cafe. Mostly young adults were seen in there. Was greeted by the staff once the sliding door is opened. Awkward as that will also cause the patrons in the shop to look at who's walking-in. Lone diner will be directed to the window seats.

nice sunny day

The shop is manned by just the staff and the Chef in the kitchen. Pretty efficient. I liked the shop decor. Cosy and plenty of natural light.

shop decor

write down your order

The place is semi self-service, and one orders by ticking the desired items in the order chit. It's in Mandarin though. Heng, I can agak-agak (guess) a bit.

Once you have decided and indicated on the paper, pass it to the staff. She was kind of taken aback when I asked if I need to pay first when submitting the order. Hahaa! She patiently informed that customers will pay after they're done with the meal. Oh, and I was happy that she asked how I'd like the tendon to be, as she mentioned that most customers liked it chewy. For me, I wanted mine to be soft.

As it was past typical meal time, Chef started to prepare my bowl almost immediately. The staff will bring the noodles to your table. For utensils, napkin and chili oil, one can take from the common area.

红烧牛肉麵 (半筋半肉)

pretty bowl of piping hot beef noodles

a good bowl of beef noodles, 好吃

yellow noodles

Soup was lightly beefy and fragrant with herbs. Not too overpowering, clean tasting and served piping hot. Noodles were smooth and easily slurped. There were plenty of beef pieces in there and I was a tad worried if it would be tough. I was all smiles at first bite. Wow. Beef was well cooked and fork tender.

so yummy

Tendon was soft and gelatinous. So goood! Overall, happy with the place, the food and the service. It was a good choice!

hi there

One could have a meal here at a relaxed place as there are no long lines outside, pressurizing you to eat quickly. Although, the boy who sat next to me managed to finish his up-sized noodle bowl within 30 minutes. Can see that he too, was satisfied with his meal.

Once done eating, diners usually would collect their empty bowl, used utensils and return it to the staff.

Spent NT$190 (~ SGD9) for the beef noodles.

独立牛肉面

Address: No. 31, Section 2, Guiyang St, Wanhua District, Taipei City, Taiwan 108
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DuLiBeef/?fref=ts
Contact: +886 981 738 089
Business Hours:
Mon to Sat: 11.30am to 2.20pm, 5.00pm to 8.30pm
Closed on Sundays

Enjoy Eating House And Bar 享受热食饮料 - Delivery

Was searching for food to be delivered for a small birthday celebration for the bro. Embracing the call for #stayhome and was searching via Feastbump website for restaurants that's onboard the delivery wagon. Didn't want to get from Foodpanda nor Deliveroo as these two platforms only had limited choices for CCK/Yew Tee area.

Saw "Enjoy Eating House and Bar" and thought it sounded familiar. True enough, this place was featured in NOC's Food King series under the title "Food King Singapore: Legendary Zi Char to Try in 2019!".

Ahhh, ok. Let's try to order! Very simple to place the order, and I was a bit kiasu so placed it a day earlier (around 10pm) for next day lunch time delivery. Paid and received email acknowledgement to state that it was pending completion of the payment. And, order confirmation via email came after that within the same day. Cool.

Delivery was prompt and on-time. Thank you for the safe delivery! I ordered the two dishes that Ryan and Dee Kosh liked and was impressed with, while the other two dishes was to make up the minimum order of $50. So, there was the "Grandma's Te Kah Bee Hoon", "Chef Joel's Mee Kia" (the recommended dishes). Wasabi Prawns and Har Jeong Gai (Prawn Paste Chicken).

lunch spread from Enjoy Eating House

Hey, prawn is an auspicious dish right? So, wishing my bro lots of laughter with this prawns dish. The crystal prawns were plump and varying sizes. However, the meat was a tad too cooked. Probably due to the longer time it sat inside the container for delivery. Sauce was leaning to the sweeter side with the cubed mangoes and mayo.

Prawns in Wasabi Mayo Sauce 芥末蛋黄明虾 @$17.80

The Har Jeong Kai wings, has the adequate fragrance but on hindsight, it won't be something that I'd order again, especially for delivery. By the time it reaches the customer, the wings would've turned soggy, and the oily-ness was even more apparent. Loved the shrimp paste smell, and the well marinated meat but best eaten fresh off the fryer.

ENJOY “Har Jeong Kai” Wings 虾酱炸中翅 @$11.80

How about the mee kia, did the noodles turn soggy? Well, the noodles were softer than desired but still ok.

Chef Joel's Mee Kia is an upmarket-fied version of mee kia with the inclusion of truffle onsen egg, crab meat and pork cheeks.

Chef Joel’s Mee Kia 总厨幼面 @$11.80

lardo bits and pork cheeks!

The 'liao' (ingredients) were of generous portions. At least 6 to 7 pieces of sliced pork cheeks in there! The truffle on the sous vide egg was really mild, and the pork cheeks were of a firm chew.

mee kia

Was most happy with the bee hoon. Will recommend the bee hoon. Take my money $$! But warning first. This dish is of strong flavours.

Grandma’s “Te Kah” Bee Hoon 招牌猪脚米粉 @$12.80

look at those skin~

All the things that you ever wanted in this dish; wok hei, delicious flavours, collageny skin and good portions of lean meat that's tender but still with a good bite? It's all there. Thank you, ah ma.

Overall, good prices for these bar food and efficiently prompt delivery service. Keep up the good work, guys!

Enjoy Eating House and Bar

Address: 383 Jln Besar, Kam Leng Hotel, Singapore 209001
Website:  http://enjoyeating.sg/
Delivery: https://enjoyeatinghouse.oddle.me/en_SG
Contact: 9299 1601
Business Hours:
Daily - 11am to 1am